We should tackle reality in a slightly jokey way, otherwise we miss its point. -Lawrence Durrell

What a strange illusion it is to suppose that beauty is goodness. -Leo Tolstoy

Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.  -Eleanor Roosevelt (American United Nations Diplomat, Humanitarian, and First Lady)

What is the purpose of the giant sequoia tree? The purpose of the giant sequoia tree is to provide shade for the tiny titmouse. -Edward Abbey

Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I will not forget you. -William Arthur Ward

And the fox said to the little prince: men have forgotten this truth, but you must not forget it. You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed. -Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Live a balanced life. Learn some and think some, and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some. -Robert Fulghum

The worst kind of people are those who confuse kindness for weakness. -Werner Makowski

Moral certainty is always a sign of cultural inferiority. The more uncivilized the man, the surer he is that he knows precisely what is right and what is wrong. All human progress, even in morals, has been the work of men who have doubted the current moral values, not of men who have whooped them up and tried to enforce them. The truly civilized man is always skeptical and tolerant, in this field as in all others. His culture is based on “I am not too sure.” -H.L. Mencken

In all affairs it’s a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted. -Bertrand Russell